Small-Scale Renewable Energy Converters for Battery Charging

This paper presents two wave energy concepts for small-scale electricity generation. In the presented case, these concepts are installed on the buoy of a heaving, point-absorbing wave energy converter (WEC) for large scale electricity production. In the studied WEC, developed by Uppsala University, small-scale electricity generation in the buoy is needed to power a tidal compensating system designed to increase the performance of the WEC in areas with high tides. The two considered and modeled concepts are an oscillating water column (OWC) and a heaving point absorber. The results indicate that the OWC is too small for the task and does not produce enough energy. On the other hand, the results show that a hybrid system composed of a small heaving point absorber combined with a solar energy system would be able to provide a requested minimum power of around 37.7W on average year around. The WEC and solar panel complement each other, as the WEC produces enough energy by itself during wintertime (but not in the summer), while the solar panel produces enough energy in the summer (but not in the winter).